Chiang Tung (Kengtung), Burma (Myanmar)

Chiang Tung is a town in the Eastern Shan States of Burma. I have wanted to travel there for a while now. I almost went there in January, but didn’t have enough time, and so decided to wait until I could go there with my friend and former roommate Julia. It is in the same general area as Sipsongpanna in China, northwestern of Laos, and northern Thailand. Chiang Tung and the surrounding area has a common history and cultural background as well. So, when June 10th finally rolled around (the date Julia and I had decided would be the beginning of our adventure), I was thrilled. Travel to Chiang Tung from Chiang Mai involves taking a 4.5 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai to Mae Sai (Thai border town), crossing the border to Burma, then taking some form of transportation an additional 160 km from Tachilek (the Burmese border town on the other side of Mae Sai) to Chiang Tung. Because Burma is run by a paranoid, authoritarian government (or is it totalitarian?? I don’t know anything about words to describe governments, but I do know that the government in Burma is absolutely no good), travel in the country is quite restricted. Julia and I were crossing just to go to Chiang Tung, so we did not need to have visa before crossing. However, we both completely forgot to bring our 3 passport photos, so what could have possibly been a much smoother crossing turned into us following the guy from the immigration office all over town to get our photographs taken. OK, it wasn’t all over town, but it felt crazy and chaotic to me, and it was HOT. After everything was settled and we paid all the necessary fees (and handed over our passports, to be kept at the border as we explored Chiang Tung), we arranged with the immigration guy to take the “air-conditioned” bus, rumored to take only 4 hours. It seemed like a decent option, as the only other one presented to us was a private taxi that would have cost us at least 100 Baht more (OK, 100 baht is only $2.50, but it seems like an enormous sum when traveling, especially when you are used to things being fairly cheap and you are aware that you are being ripped off compared to the price for locals). We were rather hungry after all of the traveling and border crossing, but we did not get to grab anything to eat, as we had to rush to the bus station to be sure to catch the bus. The immigration guy had told us there would be all kinds of food at the bus station, and that we could eat there, but he was totally wrong. No food stands at all. But we got our seats on the completely full bus (Asian style – in other words people were sitting in the aisles as well), and we were off.

It was very exciting to be in a bus, traveling in a completely new area, even though it was a very long day of travel. With all of the traveling I have done in the past year, I was used to it, as traveling in a bus has become somewhat of second nature to me (it doesn’t mean I have gotten over my total phobia of them, however). Julia was coping with it fairly well, although she is much happier when she is able to drive herself. We seemed to be moving along at a decent pace, and looked to be on schedule. In fact, we were getting quite close to Chiang Tung from our calculations, when suddenly the bus pulls over on the side of the road. All I could think is “you have to be kidding me…” I really wanted to be in denial that the bus was broken down, especially after my last broken-down bus experience (see Lao blog, below), but it was pretty obvious that there was a problem. I got off the bus to see people wildly running towards the engine (at the back of the bus) and throwing bottles full of water on it. It just seemed totally chaotic and crazy, especially the urgency with which they were trying to throw the water onto the engine. It seemed clear to me that the engine had overheated, which wasn’t entirely surprising given the age of the bus and the hills we had been climbing. But the throwing of the water seemed totally insane, plus I had no idea if there were any other problems. All we could do was wait and see. It didn’t seem good, but I tried to stay optimistic. After a short period of time, people started walking up the road. We knew by this point that we were 25 km from Chiang Tung, but it didn’t seem possible that people actually were going to walk the rest of the way. We found out they were walking towards a “market” in a “town” just at the top of the hill. Julia and I decided that it might be a good idea to walk there as well, so we grabbed our stuff and away we walked.

The “town” and the “market” turned out to not be much, but it resembled so many roadside villages I have passed through in all of my travels in Laos. We were able to get some water, and concluded, after discussions with fellow bus passengers, that the bus repair was going to take a long time and the sun was setting fast. We decided to try to hire a tuk-tuk-type vehicle to take us the rest of the 25 km to Chiang Tung. After much discussion and haggling with the help of a fellow passenger (who turned out to be Akha) who spoke both Burmese and English. We were in the tuk-tuk heading back to the bus to pick up our bizarre makeshift “passports” when we saw it heading towards us. Yes, it was actually running and moving, but with a black cloud coming out of its tailpipe. So, we turned around and met it back in the “town.” We paid the tuk-tuk driver a small sum for his troubles, got on the bus, and eventually we arrived in Chiang Tung.


It was a little after dusk when we arrived, but everyone was very helpful in getting us to the “Noi Yee Hotel” we had picked out from our guidebook. The guy who ran the hotel was, to say the least, very eccentric. In fact, it was easy to conclude after the few days I spent in Chiang Tung, that the town is a breeding ground for eccentricity. It is a rather isolated place; although it is near China, only a half-day’s drive from Thailand, and there are small towns/villages in the nearby area, the nearest city in Burma is like 400 kilometers away! Anyway, Julia and I decided that we really liked our hotel. It had a fabulous central location, a nice view, and all the necessities (beds and a bathroom, and even a veranda! -- which you can see Julia sitting on in the photo).

Chiang Tung is a beautiful city! There are stunning wats (Buddhist temples) on every corner (this could be a slight exaggeration, but that’s how it feels), a lake in the center, hills and mountains, and friendly people everywhere. The town also has a fabulous and huge morning market that I did not heave enough time to explore to my satisfaction. I did get to see the whole market, but it was so full and so beautiful that I could have spent many more hours there. I also got to visit many of the wats in the town, and they were just stunning. The Buddha images were gorgeous and quite numerous. And what was perhaps the most amazing thing about the city was how peaceful it was. Very mellow, with very little traffic. Of course the lack of traffic was welcomed by me, but I do understand that it is a reflection of how poor the community (and country in general) is. As can be seen in neighboring Thailand and Laos, as communities get more money, the people purchase motorcycles and, for the wealthy, even cars/trucks, and streets become increasingly clogged. Another nice thing about Chiang Tung is that because the people and the history are closely connected with northern Thailand, we could speak Thai and not only be understood, but understand others and have conversations.


Julia and I found a restaurant that we were quite find of and thus visited every day we were in town (to be frank, there weren’t many, especially ones that could prepare a truly vegetarian meal). On our second night we befriended a Thai guy named Chai traveling alone (which we found quite surprising). It turned out that Chai had just finished being a monk at a wat in northwest Thailand. I didn’t hear the part of the conversation when he explained why he was visiting Chiang Tung, but I think he was in Mae Sai (the Thai border town) and decided to come see what this town was like. I have to say, Chai spoke very quickly, so Julia and I both spent time puzzled at what he was saying, but he was very nice. In fact, the next day, when Julia and I decided to explore the area separately, I ran into Chai after I unknowingly passed the morning market, which had been my destination. We ended up walking around all over the town for hours, which was really enjoyable. I had stated that my intention was to visit as many wats as possible, so in the process of wandering that morning we visited at least 4 or 5 wats. I always enjoy looking for banners, but I also enjoy visiting the wats for many reasons, including looking at the many things that exist at a wat, and comparing it (in my head) to the many other places I have visited in this region. The wats in Chiang Tung did not disappoint, especially Wat In which had an unbelievable collection of Buddha images. I definitely could have spent hours just staring at those Buddha images, but I didn’t have the time. It’s OK; I got a lot of nice pictures, and I suspect I will visit Chiang Tung again. Wandering around that day was very hot and the sun was surprisingly intense. Although I slathered my neck and face with sun block, I got quite burnt. I could definitely feel it the next day, but luckily I didn’t have to carry my bags very far.

The next day was our return back to Thailand. This journey to Chiang Tung was a short trip compared to most of the ones I have taken this year, but it was wonderful, rewarding, and quite relaxing. The trip back from Chiang Tung to the border was far less eventful than the ride there. We opted for a shared taxi this time. As our friend Chai had (wisely?) taken a shared taxi to get to Chiang Tung, he had already set his ride with the same driver he rode up with. After a bit of finagling (on Julia’s part – she’s very good at it), we got to ride in the same taxi, which was scheduled to leave at like 7:30 or so in the morning. Once the driver finally arrived, we hopped in, and it was an absolute riot. The guy was a total eccentric, and it felt like it took forever for us to really get going on the road. He would get really excited and talk with us, not looking at the road at all, and at one point, we stopped to wash the car – in fact we stopped to wash the car in the same “town” where Julia and I had been stuck just a few days earlier on our way into town (that's him in the photo, washing the car while we were waiting in it). It figured. But we made it, and even survived the bus ride all the way back to Chiang Mai (easier said than done – Julia was going absolutely stir crazy by the time we got to the Chiang Mai vicinity. By my calculations we arrived just on time, or maybe about 10 minutes late, but the bus attendant person had told Julia we would get into Chiang Mai by 6:30, a whole 45 minutes off).